Back Again (But Not Here)

Back at the beginning of July, I announced my return to blogging. As you can see, events conspired against that. I think the chief reason it didn’t work was that my routine almost returned to normal1, but my project list didn’t shrink as much as I expected it to2. There was the illusion I would be able to get more writing done, but subtle forces worked against that reality. I spent the last several weeks finishing off some of those linger projects, so now I’m finally back to where I need to be to start writing again.

August, however, is full of travel for me. On Wednesday, I fly to Indianapolis for GenCon. I have to leave GenCon a little early3 to fly to Orlando for the Agile 2010 conference. And today I bought plane tickets from Orlando to Switzerland, to spend a week and half in our office in Lausanne followed by five days of vacation with Gwen. I get back on August 31. My normal routine is non-existent this month.

All of which means I have a much better chance of getting some writing done.

That may seem counter-intuitive, but I think it will actually work. I’m going to be away from home for twenty-eight days straight. The normal forces that work on me at home will be completely gone. That means that I, rather than the pattern of commitments I’ve built up, will be in complete control of my schedule. If I say I writing is at the top of my to-do list, it will be.

So, for the rest of August, I will spend at least thirty minutes a day writing for this blog, and I will post something everyday. When I return home, the habit of daily writing should be strong enough to carry over into my day-to-day. Or at least that’s the plan. So if you see me in any of those places in the next few weeks, ask me how it’s going. Hopefully, you’ll already know.

1 With the notable exception of spending three hours a day watching the Tour de France.

2Especially when you include three hours a day of watching the Tour de France.

3 Sunday afternoon, rather than my usual Monday afternoon schedule.